The present invention relates to an area rug hanging display which carries a plurality of rugs and allows a person to view an individual rug.
In displaying area rugs and the like it is desirable to display all the rugs such that all the rugs can be view relatively easily without requiring much effort by a person. Generally rugs are either laid out on the ground, or hung on a wall so as to let people see the rugs. This method takes up a large amount of area, if there are a large amount of rugs being shown, and is cumbersome to a person if they would like to view an individual rug. Some examples of area rug displays are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. D 218,917 (Trunsperger), U.S. Pat. No. 4,685,573 (Ovitz, III), U.S. Pat. No. 920,962 (Kepke), U.S. Pat. No. 2,000,336 (Kerr), U.S. Pat. No. 3.315,813 (Schneider) and U.S. Pat. No. 1,162,989 (Doran). The above US Patents do not allow a plurality of rugs to be stored or hung such that an individual rug can be viewed by a person.
Some examples of area rug hanging displays are also disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 806,705 (O""Neal), U.S. Pat. No. 1,006.834 (Edwards), U.S. Pat. No. 1,099,345 (Dougherty), U.S. Pat. No. 1,162,989 (Doran), U.S. Pat. No. 1,745,713 (Reed), U.S. Pat. No. 2,000,336 (Kerr), U.S. Pat. No. 2,023,866 (Best), U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,187,900, 3,315,813, 3,330,418 (all of Schneider) and U.S. Pat. No. 5,292,011 (Kostigian).
It is one object of the present invention to provide an improved display rack for rugs.
According to one aspect of the invention there is provided a display rack for displaying a plurality of rugs comprising;
a plurality of generally upright elongate support posts;
a mounting assembly supporting the support posts arranged side by side in spaced parallel relationship;
each support post having mounted thereon for sliding movement therealong a respective one of a plurality of rug support assemblies;
each support post having a drive system for driving sliding movement of the respective mg support assembly between a lowered loading position and a raised display position;
each drive system including a pulley at an upper end of the support post and a cable wrapped over the pulley and arranged such that pulling of the cable acts to raise the support assembly on the post;
each drive system including a winch for pulling the cable;
and each drive system including a motor mounted permanently on the post or on the mounting assembly for the post for driving the winch and a manually operable switch for operating the motor.
This arrangement allows the rack to provide easy convenient use by the operator for raising and lowering the racks by operation of a simple switch.
Preferably the cable runs inside a hollow tube defining the post and wherein the winch is mounted across the post.
Preferably the motor is mounted on a housing at one side of the post.
Preferably the motor has a drive shaft parallel to the post and includes a right angle drive inside the housing for driving the winch within the post.
Preferably the pulley is mounted at a top of the post and bridges between a run inside the post and a run outside and in front of the post and extending to the support assembly.
Preferably each rug support assembly includes a front plate member in front of the post and a plurality of rack members each arranged to receive a respective rug, the rack members being mounted on the plate member for pivotal movement each about a respective vertical axis with the rack members arranged side by side across the plate member.
Preferably the plate member includes a rearwardly extending bracket carrying front and rear guide rollers for rolling along on a front and rear respectively of the post.
Preferably there is provided a divider post between each support post and the next and arranged to extend generally upright at a position in front of the support posts so as to engage rug support arms of the rug support assembly to prevent side to side movement of the arms sufficient to cause interference therebetween.
Preferably there is provided a top rail and a bottom rail interconnecting the posts and arranged to mount top and bottom ends respectively of the divider post thereon.
Preferably the divider posts each have top and bottom end portions extending rearwardly from the post to the respective rail.
According to a second aspect of the invention there is provided a display rack for displaying a plurality of rugs comprising;
a plurality of generally upright elongate support posts;
a mounting assembly supporting the support posts arranged side by side in spaced parallel relationship;
each support post having mounted thereon for sliding movement therealong a respective one of a plurality of rug support assemblies;
each support post having a drive system for driving sliding movement of the respective rug support assembly between a lowered loading position and a raised display position;
each rug support assembly including a front plate member in front of the post and a plurality of rack members each arranged to receive a respective rug, the rack members being mounted on the plate member for pivotal movement each about a respective vertical axis with the rack members arranged side by side across the plate member.
This arrangement allows the support of a larger number of rugs on a rack which is of simple and economic construction.
According to a third aspect of the invention there is provided a display rack for displaying a plurality of rugs comprising;
a plurality of generally upright elongate support posts;
a mounting assembly supporting the support posts arranged side by side in spaced parallel relationship;
each support post having mounted thereon for sliding movement therealong a respective one of a plurality of rug support assemblies;
each support post having a drive system for driving sliding movement of the respective rug support assembly between a lowered loading position and a raised display position;
each rug support assembly including at least one rug support arm thereon arranged to receive a respective rug, the arms being mounted for pivotal movement about a vertical axis with the arms arranged side by side;
and a plurality of divider posts each arranged between a support post and the next and arranged to extend generally upright at a position in front of the support posts so as to a engage rug support arms of a rug support assembly to prevent side to side movement of the arm of one support assembly sufficient to cause interference with the arm of a next adjacent assembly.
This prevents interference between the racks of one support and those of another which would otherwise detract from the efficient operation.